Rivals of the Wat?

Here at LAN Mob, we have weekly Super Smash Bros. tournaments, and the community that we've created is super tight-knit, with each player having their own unique character selections. However, recently, some of us LAN Mob employees have been playing a different fighting game that you may not have heard of: Rivals of Aether.

At first glance, Rivals of Aether may look like a Super Smash Bros. clone, but the developer of Rivals, Dan Fornace, has created very unique characters and gameplay mechanics that set the game apart from other fighting games. Although the game is still in development, there is already a large player base, and have been several large tournaments, such as EVO, Shine 2016, and will be at PAX West later this week.

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Rivals of Aether features a smaller cast of characters when compared to fighting games such as Street Fighter or Super Smash Bros, but the cast of Rivals is truly unique. Each character has different abilities and combos, with no two being the same. For example, Wrastor can only use his "strong attack"(or 'smash attack' for you Smash players) in the air, while Zetterburn is able to light his enemies on fire, which enhances the knockback on his attacks. Each character has their own backstory, with the game itself taking place in the world of "Aether." Zetterburn is the son of a ruling family of the Firelands, while Maypul serves as the guardian of the Aetherian Forest. Each character's lore correlates to their abilites, such as Maypul using vines and plants to defeat her enemies, or Kragg, who uses boulders and rock fissures to crush his foes.Despite only being in development, Rivals of Aether already has online compatibility for both casual play and ranked. The inclusion of a stat tracker allow you to keep track of how're you playing, and whether or not you're improving. If you're not a fan of online combat, there's always to option to play against computers, or play through Story Mode. The ability to make custom color palettes adds another layer to the game, and lets you personalize your favorite character. Stay tuned for my next post showing character breakdowns.Read Part 2 "Character Breakdown" here.